It definitely took me a minute to gather my bearings when walking into Forecastle. It was confusing to see your average festival hippies interspersed among a school of circus performers, and forty-somethings dragging their kids around – while still maintaining a connection to the city limits. Sandwiched in between Indiana, the water, and downtown Louisville, this year’s festival was held at a much larger and more attractive space known as Waterfront Park. Feeling more like Lollapalooza than anything Bonnaroo-esque, the Forecastle Festival bonds together urban life, with the skate ramps under the overpass, and festival life, with rows of environmentally-friendly vendors and the obvious slew of stages. The crowd started coming in around 7pm, filling out just in time for Manchester Orchestra, and leaving enough kandy kids to dance at the Ocean Stage.
Around 10pm the festival-goers weeded themselves out to form two groups: those who like jam bands, and those who do not. For those who did not, Memphis’ own Lucero stepped in to close out the East stage with their Southern punk/country infused rock sound. Singing about whiskey and women, lead singer Ben Nichols’s deep Louis Armstrong-like voice represented the South well, as did the crowd… Surrounded by shirtless drunk men singing along as though, “I kissed the bottle, I should’ve been kissing you” was their anthem, I found myself in a sea of devoted fans, who had come out just for them.
The band had some tight breakdowns with help from keys/organ/accordion player, Rick Steff, and rhythm section John Stubblefield (bass) and Roy Berry(drums). Their energy reciprocated well with the highly receptive crowd, allowing people to leave the festival and board the Belle of Louisville for the after party in good spirits. Until tomorrow.–Mackenzie Grosser